NO Surprise at all to see Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt, quoted in the media again.

“Mayor Brad Pettitt says the city will not try to persuade Woolworths to stay: “I would have liked it to stay, but it does not have the same strategic value as a store like Myer does,” he says. “Woolworths has always been in a strange location in Fremantle.”

In 2012 the Mayors very astute business acumen had him quoted as saying -Myer leaving is not the end of the world, King Sq will still go ahead. – Really Mayor perhaps you should walk down the steps from your chambers and see the state of our once great citys CBD and Kings Square, was this your plan?

A place surrounded by vacant and struggling business, a city with a shocking reputation for anti-social behaviour, a rising crime rate, the few shoppers left harassed by drunks, druggies, beggars while walking thru graffiti, vandalized streets and still a shocking reputation for parking. Considering the amount of car-parking you have sold off and plan to sell if you get a chance its not surprising, not to mention your infatuation of turning street parking into waste of space parklets, but does also possibly feeds your love for concrete.

4 years later, in 2016 the situation is worse and still sliding, Woolies a tribute to that, the Mayors plan is clearly not working., if he has one at all?

The Hilton development delay ( or if its built at all) bares testament to that.

If we look back a few years and refer to media reports, the city of Fremantle and its Mayor Brad Pettitt recognized or at least talk about the need for retail environment to improve in Fremantle, as we see in the Wests story below.

“Fremantle needs to renew itself as an economic centre by growing its population, bringing in more office workers and attracting a high-profile department store such as David Jones in order to boost its stagnating retail sector, according to the city’s mayor. “

Sadly the Mayor missed the other part needed, the one the council could have the most influence on the anti-social, issues, Graffiti problems, maintenance of the city control assets, the city has a bad parking image, so what has councils done, sell off more parking, plus removed more on street parking. Not to mention approving more office, business and residential projects all lacking in parking infrastuure, while whining about the poor retail situation Fremantle is in. Go figure they are not helping the situation.

So while other centres and expanding and are aggressively increasing their parking assets, freo’s regressing and selling off the parking it does control. Freo council is just anti-car, which will lead to anti growth.

“The City of Fremantle says a plan to double the size of Garden City Shopping Centre flouts the guidelines and will siphon more retail from the port city and undermine its efforts to establish a key economic centre. “

So while other centres are going, Fremantle is reaching for Kleenex to cry about others doing their jobs while they continue on the blind campaign running Freo’s opportunities further into the ground.

“Garden City shopping centre at Booragoon will become the retail heart of a restaurant, entertainment, commercial and higher-density residential precinct under plans endorsed by the WA Planning Commission.

An expansion to make the shopping centre WA’s biggest is just one plank in a broader city centre overhaul that includes the development of a new high street and piazza, a revamped cinema complex and the introduction of small bars and restaurants intended to draw people to the area outside shopping hours.”

So now it will not be long before new bars and restaurant takes over from Freo as a night time entertainment district. As long as they (Melville) controls anti-socials issues, benefits like massive free parking and the ability to shop, go for dinner and park once, is a win win for Booragoon and lose lose, sadly for Fremantle.

When Councillors have attitudes like we see from Andrew S comments on Roels Freo View, it doesn’t bode well for Freo’s future.

A cut and paste of part of Andrews comment, the link above at the top of the page will link anyone interested in reading the full list of comments, plus Roel’s orginal post. Its important to read the full context of ones comments not just trust my POV.

“The third issue is that regional boxes like Garden City transfer the cost of parking into the rents and thats equitable because all the people parking there are visiting the one centre. There is really no other reason to be parking there because there is nothing else to do but to go in to that centre – yawn!. In essence, you pay for parking at Booragoon through the shop till rather than in the car park. In a diverse and complex city centre, that opportunity really doesn’t exist even through the rate system. Paid parking is adopted as a more direct and equitable user-pays system.”

A simple example of the inaccuracy of such statements is going to a place like the coffee club in freo or Garden city where you would see the price is the same at both locations, no extra charge at Booragoon because parking is free. No to mention all the other added benefits of booragoon

Better ambiance with much less anti-social issues

Close to the Freeways, Canning Hwy, leach Hwy, Roe Hwy, easy enter and exit in your drive in and out

Bus Terminal hub

Air-condition shopping experience from top to bottom,

No crossing streets, or dodging cyclists and skaters, etc, safely navigating with the kids with less to worry about

No druggies and drunks laying in the centre of the shopping trip.

No parking tickets for being back to your car, when your a minute late from your max parking time of 30mins

No caught in the heat or rain

ETc, etc.

Sadly Freo over the last decade has only gone down hill, both state and federal governments have done little for Freo over the same time. Not much interest from our local members either who seem more interested in events outside our city than what is happening too it. When the state has tried to give needed infrastructure its met with councils protesting, spending thousands of dollars on meaningless reports, to object to simple needed infrastructure like roads to ease congestion in and around the city. More interested in driving political party rhetoric than amenity of its residents.

Hence Fremantle is where it is and sadly little sign that recover is coming as other centres surge ahead and fremantle is moving backwards.

Here’s another case with the same factors building up so whats our council doing to stamp out this sort of behaviour in our city. We have on the cnr, of High St and Stirling Hwy another squatters setup what are the council the police and the owners of the building doing about this, its unacceptable for this to continue.

Once recognized as Western Australia’s thriving, cosmopolitan second city, many of Fremantle’s retailers and small business owners have been struggling to stay afloat in recent years but the winds of change are in the air.

The first issue is what took Freo to the brink in the 1st place? Is it back, I don’t think so?

The so called anti-development did not drive out all the businesses and cause all the “For Lease” signs across the city. Protecting heritage is essential as its one of the things that makes Freo unique.

The loss of many key Fremantle icons and draw cards are at the heart of what killed Freo, or is still killing it.

To say not building a new office block or apartment is killing the city is not true, if it was then many old historical cities would have died off instead they thrive. Taking what they have, working with, protecting it, maintaining it and using them to drive their cities forward.

If Freo can make the top 10 places on Lonely Planet to visit it wasn’t talking about new hi-rises, or the Mayors drive for development at any cost, as most of the new stuff we see going up is pretty tacky. Of course there is some great stuff coming online as well.

Freo’s real decline is seen in the loss of places like Myers, the Dockers, the deal for oval has just inept, the decline of places like Fly by Night.

How many of these types of business, has the council seen go under in its time?

Then there is Freo’s shocking reputation for parking and its councils anti-car policies it’s driving constantly.

Freo’s even worse reputation for anti-social issues. Business and locals have been complaining about this for years its only just recently the council has woken from their slumber on this issue, of course we have the likes of wainwrights and his socialist buddies, who seem more worried about the druggies, vagrants, anti-social drunken crew, the vulgar language etc, etc. Than he is on the ones who pay the rates to fund the cities, councilor driven ideology, oh and pay the fees, that puts in his pocket. Of course it’s all the state governments fault not the city’s councilors and Mayor who have made these issues worse. Amazing how the Mayor of Perth clean up these issues in Perth, yet our Mayor and councillors laid out the carpet for it now they are trying to pull it back. 1-step forward, 2 steps back.

The Mayor Brad Pettitts drive for bigger and bigger booze events and venues where in some cases he gives away the space to the operator for free, letting local rate payers foot the bill the repair bills. Of course the bigger the booze event the more anti-social problems?

To show the hypocrisy the councils wants to have some sort of drive for stamping out domestic violence, yet on the other continues to drive bigger and bigger booze based events and business, it’s just laughable, you will see Wainwright talk about all these issues but vote for a massive booze sponsored event on south beach.

2nd worse place in Australia for coverage of concrete and bitumen in a city, our councils lust for pouring concrete into our parks.

Fremantle’s councils drive to call graffiti art giving our once great city its ghetto look.

The cities lack of focus on basic maintenance our town hall on the verge of ruin if basic gutter and rood repairs are not done.

Hi-rise development for offices and apartments are not what makes a city great, of course I don’t expect anyone profiting of this to agree as its their pockets the money flows too. As long as its all honest and above board nothing wrong with that but don’t kid yourself that a developer has the best interest of the city at heart, that’s like thinking a mining company has best interest of the environment in their mind 1st and fore most. No its about $$$$ the bottom line.

Another piece of journalism written with COF issued blinkers, I wonder if the Mayor gets to proof read these before they go to press?

The picture in the piece is one of the Mayors white elephants, the Kings Square Business Plan and issue that has been questioned in parliament and a minister responsible refuses to even give it due scrutiny. Google this and list of questions is endless, a project that could cost the Fremantle rate payers over $30,000,000.00

People investing like to see a steady reliable record of operation before investing in a location, the back flipping policies and style of council hardly sends that message.

The last survey report of the rate payers in Fremantle shows a city at its lowest point in history. the reputation it has for graffiti is shocking.

The recent election show’s them having their lowest vote turn out in history and more than 54% of the votes cast in the election for non sitting councillors, a clear majority that voted aren’t happy with the current direction.

All these issues are what’s killing freo, building a few new offices isn’t going to fix these problems. It would be great if it could.

How can a council with a policy such as their own SG50 be so driven to push thru clearly destructive booze outlets as the one planned at Jshed, people should read this agenda and decide from them selves about the actions of council.

For me reading it, they come across as an addict who will do and say anything to get their next fix. Its booze booze and more booze and no matter what anyone says they will seek some way to justify there addiction, to explain the need for it, any cost is not to much in their need to for fill that urge.

Reading the agenda is quite sad, it does not matter what impact it has on local business, driving out existing operations, no need for parking, concrete over the last remaining bits of greenery to ensure access to their fix. Adding anti-social behaviour is not an issue to be considered as its not relevant? Reading this document it comes across as a desperate drive by an organization to find any reason to justify a drive for councillors need to approve more huge booze barns not the small bars their own policy calls for.

This going ahead just shows councillors clear disregard for rate payers concerns and puts to bed the idea that councillors has any interest in representing rate payers, unless of course its in their own interest 1st.

Anyone looking for reasons why anti-social behaviour is such an issue in Fremantle, our councillors decisions led by our Mayor should be your 1st port of call.